How Does Economic Complexity Affect Energy Demand in Iran? New Evidence from the Quantile Regression Model

The impact of technological advances on energy consumption is one of the topics that has been considered by many researchers and policymakers. Numerous researchers have tried to evaluate this relationship based on various technology indicators. The index of economic complexity is one of the new indicators that has been used in recent years to measure the level of knowledge and technology in the production structure. In this paper, the index of economic complexity along with energy prices and GDP have been used as determining factors of energy consumption in Iran during the period 1976 to 2018. Quantile regression results show that the coefficients of the variables are different in the deciles. The impact of economic complexity on energy consumption in all deciles has been positive, indicating the dominance of the rebound effect on energy consumption. Price elasticity is less than one in all deciles and less in the higher consumption deciles. In contrast, the income elasticity of energy demand was higher in the upper deciles